Signs of spring April 2011

This
patch
of garden
bordering
our sidewalk
displays ajuga,
artemisia
and lemon thyme.






I've been away from home for several days and missed the flowering of our 15-year-old cherry tree. Its leaves are already out muting the cloud-like effect of the beautiful pink blossoms. The hosta were menacing sword tips breaking through the ground when I left; now they are unfurling their variously colored leaves. The purple iris and the lilac bush are in bloom as is our scraggly looking wisteria vine that will soon lend shade to the northwest corner of our front patio.

We have so many wildflowers (weeds) competing with the grasses in our front yard that it looks more like a meadow than a lawn. I've already begun to plot about using more space for herbs and perennials.

Speaking of grasses: The bermuda grass that once dominated the lawns of our condominium property is losing ground to a grass that lives throughout the winter in scattered patches that become monster hillocks in the spring. Another newly prominent grass type appears in tiny swirls top heavy with blondish seed cases that look like furry hair. It's an ugly, clumping grass -- my cousin Mary Frances calls it "nut grass" -- that grows alongside the flowering weeds that leave less and less room for the old bermuda. The nut grass and the monster hillocks seem fairly new to me. I've begun to notice them more and more over the past three years and often wonder if they are adapting to climate change better than the bermuda.